Dinesh Wagle on Nepali society

December 17, 2005November 9, 2009

The Day of Banda

I arrived at office early in the morning, at about 8:15.yesterday. Why? An office vehicle would go to drop a Kantipur employee near by home in Kadaghari, Gothataar. I desperately wanted to avoid walking for about an hour to reach office because I wasn’t feeling well. I mean I was recovering from Pilo. So, I though that was a nice idea to get a lift from office van. Had daal bhat in office canteen. That was good.

Then I started my Valley Banda coverage on UWB. I was eager to see the Banda effects. I walked up to New Baneshwor and spent hours wandering from one corner to another following the clashes and taking pictures. Once, I was caught up in the tear gas. Felt like I am going to die on the spot. The gas directly entered from my mouth and reached to the bottom of my lungs. I felt so. But then seeing people caught up inside a shop full of gas broke my heart. I tried to capture the image but my camera wasn’t that fast enough and I missed the horrific scene. Bikash Karki took the picture though that too doesn’t capture the intensity of the scene.

Today I feel that I ran too much. Thighs are feeling the stress. No problem. I think I can handle the pain easily. Well, here is an update on my Pilo: the sign of Pilo has gone from my nose. I knew it in the morning and now people in the office are also reminding me that. A few minutes ago, as I was congratulating Bikash Sangraula for his wonderful story in today’s Kathmandu Post in the canteen, Prateek Pradhan commented: “I also like you nose now. The sign of Pilo has gone.”